Dealing with USALS

[Wholeshoe]

Iceberg and PSB

I was not awar that USALS would work with a SG2100 either and that is the set up I have along with a Fortec Ultra Lifetime.

What do I have to do to make the USALS work? Just tell it the due south satellite and it is going to automaticaly know where the rest are? (I Hope So)

I currently use the DISECQ 1.2 setting on my receiver.

Wholeshoe

 

[PSB]

Yes.....

Press Menu......right click to Installation......antenna set up........then choose your true south bird.
Then come down and enter USALS as your positioner setting.....hit OK then click on....
My Longitude....then My Latitude enter your details and store, change all satellites to USALS and you are done.
Works a treat!

 

[Wholeshoe]

Thanks PSB

Can't wait to get home and try it, I will keep you posted.

Wholeshoe

 

[Wholeshoe]

PSB

I'm at 88.2 degrees and the closest bird south is AMC3 1.2 degrees away to the east, I moved the dish to amc3 using DISEcQ 1.2 then changes it to USALS and entered my Lat Long and I think it moved me 1.2 degrees more to the east. (Don't get my 1.2's screwed up ones Degrees and one is DISECQ 1.2)

Do I need to set my motor to Zero first?

Think I will grab the flashlight and jacket and go try that.

Wholeshoe

 

[PSB]

I guess I am just lucky my true south satellite is bang on 93W same as my longditude (IA6) so I just set up to it and I am done, you can always flick back to DiSEqC 1.2 and nudge it over a bit, USALS is great but now and again it needs to be offset slightly to peak the signal!

 

[Wholeshoe]

It seems as soon as I switch it to usals it moves instantly off from to the "usals AMC3) how would I counteract that? Change the satellite position at the top a little at a time until it comes in?

Wholeshoe

 

[PSB]

That would work, I think Iceberg mentioned he does this, he is going to repoint his dish as it "MAY" have moved slightly!

 

[Wholeshoe]

I've been fiddeling with it for a while now and no luck.

I tried resetting the system and starting like it was a new receiver and then I punshed in 87 for my Longitude thinking it won't move the dish from the DISECQ 1.2 setting but it moved it before I could get into the USALS Menu!

Iceberg do I have to fool it by telling it where AMC3 is instead?

Also I dont like that I can nudge it in USALS mode I like to fiddel with things!

Wholeshoe

 

[PSB]

I knew the "Berg" had mentioned it........

"If you have USALS, a good way is to change the satellite location
123.0 is now 123.5
95.0 is now 95.2
etc"

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=30529&highlight=usals

 

[Wholeshoe]

Does this mean I will have to change ever single satellites location to fool the receiver?

Isn't there some way to reset my zero reference to the 1.3 degrees off from zero to make up for the difference so I won't have to go through each satellite?

(Maybe this discussion should get moved into its own thread)

Wholeshoe

 

[Mr Tony]

I was working with nudging it left and right one and two clicks to get the best results. Most of my USALS setting are off by a half a degree or so.
I made the mistake of not using my actual longitude (I'm at 93.77 and I put 93.0) so my satellites on the far end (74, 79, 123) are off by almost a degree. Just change it in USALS and you'll be OK.

 

[Wholeshoe]

So If I understand you, your saying to set my Longitude exactly to what it is and change each satellite by a few tenths of a degree to a few degrees to tune each one.

It doesn't soud like having to go through all of this is any advantage over DISECQ 1.2? Please correct me if I am wrong.

Wholeshoe

 

[Mr Tony]

once you set it up, it should be set fine

Doesn't diseqc 1.2 you have to move the dish everytime you switch satellites? USALS does that for you automatically.

 

[TuxCoder]

DiSEqC 1.2 also automatically moves as you switch satellites. The difference is, USALS is simply an algorithm to automatically calculate the azimuth based on orbital location and your own fixed location. Then it issues a "Go To X" command (X is the azimuth value from 0 true south) which is where the motor compatibility (so-called "DiSEqC 1.3" support) comes into play.

DiSEqC 1.2 does no calculations, so for each satellite you want to see, you have to initially find out its azimuth for your location and manually click the motor over to the satellite. Then store it (in the motor) and the receiver will tell the motor to go to that index each time you need that satellite.

 

[Wholeshoe]

once you set it up, it should be set fine

Doesn't diseqc 1.2 you have to move the dish everytime you switch satellites? USALS does that for you automatically.

With diseqc 1.2 I I have to tell it where every satellite is one time and store that position, once I go this it remembers where that satellite is and will automatically go to it.

If I have to play with USALS and fool it for every satellite I may as well just set each one up with diseqc 1.2 because it gives me the ability to nudge the dish one way or the other and "fine tune" my setting.

Right now I am not seeing the USALS advantage if you do not have a true south sattelite.

I think that when my motor is set at 0 I am pointed at 87 degrees or a little east of due south, then when I switch it to USALS it the motor turns to 1.3 degrees east of true south. I think that when it does that I need to go outside and swing the whole dish back west on the pole until AMC3 comes back in and then I will be pointed true south when my motor is at 0.

I hope that made sense,

Wholeshoe

 

[TuxCoder]

Wholeshoe, you just need to point the motor's 0 position to absolute true south (not magnetic south of course). Do not worry about whether there is a satellite there or not. Then enter in your exact latitude and longitude into your receiver. At this point everything should be set up for your receiver to automatically move the dish to whatever orbital location you want, as long as they are not out of the physical bounds of your motor or its mount. To fine tune your dish so you can get a strong signal on all the satellites (or any signal to begin with), tell the receiver to move the motor to the nearest satellite to your true south. It should move the dish to the right spot then. Leave the motor's 0 position pointing to true south. Don't move the motor, just move the dish around. And don't worry if during the above steps the motor is moving as you're changing values, that's normal. Just so long as when you tell it to go to your nearest satellite, it goes to the right spot, that's all that matters.

 

[PSB]

If only Telstar 4 (89W R.I.P) was still "UP THERE" you would be fine, I would use USALS to get in the ball park then DiSEqC 1.2 to fine tune and store position.

Whoops never seen Tux's answer I would do that first then revert to the above if all else fails!

 

[Wholeshoe]

Tux

Thats exactly what I am going to try tonight when I get home.

If I push the reset button on the motor will it turn to its 0? I want to get it at 0 then switch to usals and let it turn 1.3 to the east then swing the whole motor/dish assembly on the pole until I actually tune in AMC3.

 

[TuxCoder]

I don't know if the reset button will make the motor go to zero or not. It's probably supposed to, but still it is recommended that you already have the motor at 0 if possible, before doing a reset.

As for your plan, when you say you'll "swing the whole motor/dish assembly on the pole" I hope you mean it's just to better point the motor's 0 position to true south. Really you should just leave the motor assembly alone once you're confident its 0 is pointing true south. If the zero is not true south, you might get AMC3 ok but you most likely will not even get a signal on all the other satellites. The USALS algorithm requires that A) the fixed part of the motor is facing due south and B) you have provided your correct longitude and latitude into the receiver. The (A) requirement is much more demanding than (B). Just get your coordinates as precise as you can figure out for your location (a GPS or a buddy with a GPS would be an excellent asset here).